PRINCETON—The fate of the final Democratic contender in the Princeton council race will be decided Thursday morning when 11 provisional ballots will be counted.

Tuesday’s primary election, which included no Republican opposition, left Jo Butler with 1,543 votes, just three ahead of Sue Nemeth, according to unofficial election results from the Princeton clerk’s office. Council President Bernie Miller secured a spot on the general election ballot with 1,602 votes.

The Mercer County Board of Election will meet tomorrow in Trenton at 10:30 a.m. to rule on the provisional ballots that will determine who will appear in the Nov. 4 general election.

Joann Palmucci, chairwoman of the board, said the ballots are in a vault and protected pending the meeting, which was moved up a day from Friday to hasten the process. Both Butler and Nemeth were invited by the board to attend the meeting, Palmucci said.

"We're going to give the people a chance to witness the process," she said. "It really does make a difference, so we are going to do the best we can to accommodate someone."

“I’m hoping—and also Sue is probably hoping—it’s not one vote or maybe even two. I think everyone would feel better if there was a margin,” said Butler, who formerly served for two years on the Princeton Borough council. “We just have to wait and see.”

Butler works for educational consulting firm Wickenden Associates. Nemeth, elected Princeton Township’s deputy mayor in January 2011, works as a development director and public relations specialist at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.

Nemeth and Butler both said they will attend the meeting tomorrow with their attorneys.

“We’re all anxiously awaiting the results and hoping for an actual resolution—win or lose,” Nemeth said. “We think we ran a great campaign, and we’ll certainly decide where to go next, marshaling energy and support for something for the future. I don’t know what that is yet.”

After learning of her three-point lead Tuesday night, Butler said she believed she benefited from voters who were offended by Nemeth and Miller running together on a slate, calling the move “aggressive and “divisive.”

The pair served together on the former township council and announced in January they would run a joint campaign to work together again.

“I think there is a lot of push-back against it,” Butler said Tuesday. “I think that there were protest votes.”

Nemeth said Tuesday she would need to know the provisional ballot results before deciding to ask for a recount.